The Library of Congress

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The Library of Congress

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Political history of the former United States of America

1933 - 1949

In March 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt is assassinated before he is sworn in as President. His running mate, John Nance Garner, is instead sworn in as the 32nd President of the United States. Having opposed Roosevelt’s plans for the so-called “New Deal”, Garner flew in the face of the coalition established behind Roosevelt to adhere more closely to a traditional Democratic approach and his own conservatism. This backfires on him slightly in 1934, when the midterm elections lead to an increasingly deadlocked Congress. The situation is not aided when Secretary of Agriculture, Henry A Wallace, becomes a prominent voice of opposition from within the Cabinet. Nevertheless, despite the Great Depression failing to abate, Garner remains the Democratic nominee for the 1936 presidential elections, defeating Republican Alf Landon.

Despite being re-elected, Garner continues to make little-to-no headway in resolving the US’s economic issues before the end of his term. Unwilling to participate in what he views as a fruitless endeavour, Wallace leaves the government ahead of the election and begins planting the seeds of the Progressive Party. Despite war starting in Europe with the German invasion of Poland, the dire economic situation at home leaves the population far more hesitant to become involved in yet another European war. With James Farley as the Democratic nominee, Thomas E Dewey secures both the Republican nomination and the Presidency. His isolationist stance prompts the USA to turn further inwards. In 1942 a shock to the nation comes when significant parts of the US Pacific Fleet - including its aircraft carriers - is destroyed in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan.

Unable to resist Japanese expansion throughout the Pacific Rim, the US economy is slow to move onto a war footing, and though eventually it begins to make progress, military forces remain significantly behind the Japanese, having even been vulnerable to sporadic attacks against the US mainland. By the time the United States military is in a stronger position to fight the war, the German Reich has already completed the defeat of France and, in concert with the Japanese, inflicted such serious defeats on the Soviet Union that they have withdrawn behind the Urals in the west and forced to an informal ceasefire. By the end of 1944 the war is ongoing in the Pacific, but without American assistance to support the British government the Germans begin their invasion of the British Isles, completing their invasion by mid-1946. Meanwhile in the 1944 presidential elections Paul V McNutt restores the Democrats to the Presidency as Dewey’s popularity collapses in light of the course of the war and his now ill-viewed isolationist position.

With Europe in their hands and a difficult fight in the Pacific, in 1947 the German Reich, having consolidated its hold on territories such as Iceland and Greenland, stages an invasion of the Eastern Coast of the USA. Simultaneous invasions of Hawaii and Alaska in the West put America on the back foot, and by 1948 a two-front invasion of the Continental United States is under way. The war effort continues to go poorly, and although Japanese and German forces suffer heavy losses breaking past defensive positions at the Rocky Mountains and Appalachians respectively, public morale continues to collapse. In a hasty 1948 election, the Progressive Party under Henry A Wallace wins out on an anti-war but also anti-fascist platform. His measures are supported by the resurgent Socialist Party of America, who have gained popularity in light of the left-wing revolution in Mexico to the south. Evacuating large portions of the country towards the centre, he puts in place last ditch efforts to hold onto certain key territories and negotiates a peace that ends the World War (1939-1949).

1949 - onwards

Signed in the state capital of Minnesota, not far from the Battle of Chicago on the East Coast Front, the Treaty of Saint Paul brought an end to the War on the North American Front, and partitioned the United States of America in three: the Pacific States of America, a pro-Japanese republic “guided” by the San Francisco Company; the United States of America, a pro-German fascist regime claiming descent from the pre-war USA; and the Mountain States of America, a neutral republic buffer state separating the two.

In the post-war scene, the Progressive Party capitalises on its position at the head of the nation, and in concert with the Socialists, focuses on rebuilding the country; investing heavily in social programs, and placing strong emphasis on both anti-fascism and pacifism - eager to limit PSA and USA involvement in their fragile new nation. Under President Henry A Wallace and Vice President Glen H Taylor, the Progressive Party adopted some of the key ideas of the late Huey P Long’s “Share Our Wealth” ideas, as well as embracing support from New Deal backers as the Democratic Party gradually collapsed in the face of being publicly blamed for the Depression and losing the war. By 1960, the Democrats were seriously weakened, by 1968 essentially irrelevant. Their “last hurrah” is widely agreed to have been their challenge at the 1964 presidential elections, at the end of President Taylor’s second term, when Hubert Humphreys became the last Democratic Presidential candidate to stand for the highest office. Their resounding defeat, failing to win over a single elector, sees the party written off as a viable political choice in coming years.

Not so of the Republican Party who, despite having contributed in their own ways, maintained their relevance as a less radical alternative to the Progressives - particularly on economic issues. Their initial isolationist politics welcome in the new pacifist, neutral Mountain States, and their centre-right economic issues a welcome alternative for businesses worried by the liberal reforms of the Progressive governments, the Republicans became a valuable ally of the centre-right and right - using their position during the Reuther administration from 1965-1968 to establish a deadlock in Congress that saw the Progress-Socialist coalition fall apart and President Reuther to fail to be renominated at the end of his term by the Progressive National Convention.

However the demise of the United States as a single entity had also done away with the traditional two party system. Sporadically over the 30 years following the peace, Progressive governments have been supported by the Socialist Party of America, who have gained their own influence as “king makers” of sorts, even occupying the Vice Presidency on two occasions prior to 1980. Instrumental in guiding the Mountain States transition towards the left of the political spectrum, and gathering support for liberal social projects, the comparatively small Socialists have kept a check on Congress over the years.

With the influx of Black Americans into MSA territory as part of evacuating areas of the pre-peace USA, and in the aftermath of the war as many fled the increasingly racist fascist regimes on the Eastern and Western coasts, the Progressive Party’s civil rights programs proved a huge success, particularly when drawing comparisons to the increasingly segregationist and racist policies being adopted in the USA. This has, however, brought repercussions, as much of the tension in USA-MSA relations centers around civil rights issues, including apparently support from within the MSA for certain radical groups inside the USA. The radicalised black population has also been a key demographic for far left organisations, including the Socialist Party of America (particularly the Socialist Workers wing), and the Communist Party USA, who have retained some relevance over the years.

Over the past 32 years, there had been 24 continuous years of Progressive Presidencies - from 1948 until the 1972 election. A Progressive Liberal candidate, President McGovern had somewhat failed to address many key issues facing the nation, as well as falling victim to a number of scandals, within his government and personally. Coupled with the lack of Socialist Party support following their being dropped from the 1968 electoral ticket, the McGovern administration failed to restore confidence in the Progressive Party, and for the first time since before the end of the war, the Republican Party saw its nominee become President, defeating Progressive nominee Eugene McCarthy. President Stassen proved a popular Commander in Chief, instituting a number of economic reforms that saw considerable growth. However it was also a period market by increased tensions with neighbouring countries. Retiring from the Presidency due to illness and age a little over a year after being re-elected, he was succeeded by his Vice President, David Cargo, who duly appointed George Bush, a senior Republican from the House of Representatives, as his Vice President. However the Cargo administration faired poorly in the midterm elections, and in 1980 the Progressive-Socialist coalition makes a return, securing the Presidency once more.

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Hall of Presidents of the Mountain States of America



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Henry A Wallace (P)
Presidency: 1949-1956
Vice President: Glen H Taylor (P)

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Glen H Taylor (P)
Presidency: 1957-1964
Vice President: Norman Thomas (S) [first term], Charlotta Bass (P) [second term]

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Walter Reuther (P)
Presidency: 1965-1968
Vice President: Maynard C Krueger (S)

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George McGovern (P)
Presidency: 1969-1972
Vice President: Frank Zeidler (P)

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Harold Stassen (R)
Presidency: 1973-1978 [retired early]
Vice President: David Cargo (R)

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David Cargo (R)
Presidency: 1978-1980
Vice President: George Bush (R)

[Huojin]

A brief timeline of musical history in the Mountain States of America

1940s: Jazz and blues music dominate, particularly in light of the black exodus from the Eastern United States as the war draws closer to home. Crooners in the style of Bing Crosby remain popular.

1950s: Jazz continues to evolve, while blues music becomes the basis of the growing rock and roll genre. Folk music and country & western remains popular in rural areas, even growing as people return to familiar sounds amidst societal change.

Early 1960s: Rock and roll truly becomes the dominant musical form as jazz-influenced popular music fades away. Politicised folk music grows in popularity.

Late 1960s/Early 1970s: The Japanese Wave hits, as enka revival and counter-culture music, especially that influenced by black music in the Pacific States, spreads to the MSA and becomes a run-away hit.

Mid-1970s: The Japanese Wave continues, as does the spread of music back the other way. Punk rock develops in the garages of Tokyo, and before long the movement takes off. Hispanic immigration sees the growth of Latin/jazz-influenced rock, while folk music fades from mainstream popularity.

Late 1970s/Early 1980s: R&B and soul makes a comeback, mostly among urban listeners, though rock music remains prominent. Punk music has reached Europe, becoming popular amongst Neo-Nazi and dissident groups, as well as in the PSA.

[Huojin]

Extracts from Yes-Yes: The Plight of the Faithful, part-autobiography, part-historical analysis. Written by Ryan H Yamada (1917-1979), former Chairman of the Japanese American Citizens League.

Yes-Yes: The Plight of the Faithful
A Tale of Suffering by the Japanese-American Community

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - United States Declaration of Independence, 1776.


San Francisco, California. 1917. In a small apartment on the outskirts of Chinatown, I was born. My mother had not had time to reach the hospital, but it didn't matter - my parent's English skills were so halting back then, nothing good could have come of it. They were Issei - first generation settlers from Japan - and had come from Japan in 1906, just before governments began clamping down on immigration. But my sisters and I were born right here in the New World, Nissei, second-generation. When I was four, my sisters a little older, we moved to Japantown, a new neighborhood in San Francisco. We were surrounded by other Japanese-Americans, but we didn't feel like outsiders when we left our neighborhood. American flags still fluttered over our school yards, we spoke English in classes, and we swore the Pledge of Allegiance.

This is not to say we denied our roots - throughout Japanese-American communities, certain constants remained. Communities organised Japanese language schools. We provided financial assistance to each other. We held community and charity events. Cultural elements were maintained, of course - but we did not surrender our American identities. Whether the reality of the American Dream was true or not, the belief was there. ...

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... A great many mothers and fathers, Issei primarily, urged their children on in life. "You must work hard and succeed in life". "Study hard and learn English very well". "Don't be poor like us". Every American child is raised on the story of the American Dream: through hard work and perseverance, anyone can make it, anyone can succeed. But it's a truth many of us saw in a different light. Many laws forbade foreign nationals from owning property, voting, or running for political office. The law even placed limitations on those born within the United States. But much like other minority groups in America, such as African-Americans, we still felt pride at our nation and our citizenship. America was good to many of us regardless - small businesses and farmers thrived in the rich lands of the USA, and as families grew and settled, yet more Japanese-American children were born, to the second generation this time. ...

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... The majority of the Japanese-American population was incarcerated. Some 120,000 people. My family - parents and children - like so many others, voluntarily evacuated the West Coast, only to be confined to what were called "Relocation Centers", but what we know to be concentration camps. ...

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Japanese-Americans await processing to be "relocated".

Relocation photos arranged by the Department of the Interior, painting a false perception of the internment.

A child waits to be evacuated, sat amongst the belongings of an entire family, waiting to be taken by bus to a camp.

Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Wyoming. A barbed-wire-surrounded enclave with un-partitioned toilets, cots for beds, and a budget of 45 cents daily per capita for food rations.

Granada Relocation Center, Colorado. Thousands of Japanese-Americans were imprisoned here.

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... "Were you educated in Japan or America?" "Are you Christian or Buddhist?" "Do you practice judo or play baseball?" Innocuous enough. Then the final two made it all clear. Will we serve in the armed forces, and will we forswear our allegiance to the Emperor of Japan.

Allegiance. Every day, for years on end, Japanese-American children had been swearing allegiance, not to the Emperor. But to the flag and the Republic for which it stood. And here we were, because we believed in that pledge. We believed in America and its ideals. There was no resistance, because we were not interested in fighting against our own country. We used to say shikata ga nai. It cannot be helped. An Office of Naval Intelligence report, withheld from the government and the public, stated our loyalty to the United States of America was great. All we had to do was wait. ...

... Those who had answered "No" to both of the final questions we dubbed "No-Nos". The majority were taken from the concentration camps and placed in federal prisons. We derided them at the time. Now, in the Pacific States, those of us who remained here are mocked. The "Yes-Yes". Foolish cling-ons, misty-eyed fools, traitors to the Emperor, the lists of insults goes on. All because we were willing to stay. For our country and our beliefs. ...

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... My parents took up the offer. With "peace" established, they wished to return to the homes they had lost - and the pledge of compensation made the Pacific States more attractive than many had believed. Thousands of Issei "repatriated" to the West. But we could not join them. The thousands of us who were born here. Who knew where our allegiances lay. Whose children deserved more. Who were American. Even an America defeated and broken was worth fighting for: how could we abandon it for silver of Judas, and live under a right-wing statist dictatorship?

"All men are created equal", the Founding Fathers wrote. We did not receive the rights we believed were rightfully ours, not at first. But if we had sought them, had believed in them, had been willing to fight and die for them, then how could we deny their worth? ...

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The population of Japanese-Americans in the Mountain States today remains the descendants of those internees who elected to refuse repatriation to the Pacific States or who were refused entry by the Japanese government. Their communities settled near the relocation centers where they were originally held: the largest community in Denver, Colorado, the second largest in Little Rock, Arkansas. Smaller communities remain scattered throughout the Mountain States.

Most have entered business, having recovered from the extreme poverty facing them immediately after their release. They have primarily focused on import-export trade, as well as shops catering to the Japanese-American and Asian-American diaspora specifically. They remain subject to significant discrimination. The most prominent advocacy group today is the Japanese American Citizens League.

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Produced by the State Department of the Mountain States of America, 1977.


Information Pack for Press Secretaries Regarding: Pan-American Energy Summits

• Has roots in the Merchant House Talks, 1948, which led to the end of the war - specifically discussions related to internal energy production limitations.
• Treaty of Saint Paul 1949 laid out energy restrictions - initially pegged internal levels at 20%, with bans on energy imports from non-Axis nations.
• Lobbying by President Wallace and the State Department led to the first Pan-American Energy Summit in 1955, hosted in Kansas City. Attended by delegates from PSA, USA, Canada, Japan, and Germany. Raised cap to 25%, instituted set distribution limits to each bloc in light of increased Cold War tensions. Altered ban to no imports from non-League of Nations states.
• Further lobbying by President Reuther led to second Pan-American Energy Summit in 1967, hosted in San Francisco. Cap maintained despite protestation, distribution limits to each bloc raised but bans on non-League imports lifted - very low cap set.
• President Stassen has recently lobbied intensely for a new review of the Treaty Articles.
• Meeting granted by Japanese and German officials, resulting only the third ever PAE Summit. Took place in New York City, April 22nd 1977.
• Agreement has been hailed as a foreign policy success.
• Internal production cap raised to 30%. 50% production capacity must be split between USA and PSA, with no less than 15% to either side. Cap on other nation imports raised substantially to 15%.

President Stassen has been working in close concert with the State Department, as well as with former-President McGovern (who had been a prominent advocate of renegotiation and remains focused on the issue, despite his retirement to South Dakota) to achieve this summit at all.

These arrangements are usually brought about by incessant campaigning by the executive branch to counterparts in the USA and PSA, who pass the messages on to those in Berlin and Tokyo. They are therefore fairly rare events, requiring a great deal of pressure.

Suggestions have been made by political observers within the MSA that Japanese and German officials utilise these meetings increasingly for back channel negotiations and quiet face-to-face meetings away from the League of Nations, where little productive discussion tends to take place.

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Mountain States Navy: Register of Ships

Battleships

MSS Liberty (BB-01)

Destroyers [named for states]

MSS Texas (DD-01)
MSS Louisiana (DD-02)
MSS Missouri (DD-03)
MSS Minnesota (DD-04)
MSS Kansas (DD-05)
MSS Oklahoma (DD-06)

Frigates [named for capital cities]

MSS Denver (FF-01)
MSS Austin (FF-02)
MSS Baton Rouge (FF-03)
MSS Helena (FF-04)
MSS Santa Fe (FF-05)
MSS Little Rock (FF-06)

Corvettes [named for mythic figures and positive traits]

MSS Odysseus
MSS Achilles
MSS Perseus
MSS Hector
MSS Resolute

Fast Attack Craft [named for war heroes and major figures]

MSS Mervyn Bennion (US Navy)
MSS John P. Cromwell (US Navy)
MSS Henry A. Wallace (MSA)
MSS Samuel Fuqua (US Navy)
MSS Reinhardt Keppler (US Navy)
MSS Glen H. Taylor (MSA)
MSS John Paul Jones (Continental Navy)
MSS George Dewey (US Navy)

Mine Countermeasure Craft [named for rivers]

MSS Rio Grande (AM-01)
MSS Mississippi (AM-02)
MSS Lac qui Parle (AM-03)
MSS Marias (AM-04)
MSS Sheyenne (AM-05)
MSS Wakarusa (AM-06)
MSS Elkhorn (AM-07)
MSS Gunnison (AM-08)
MSS Huerfano (AM-09)
MSS Cimarron (AM-10)

Submarines [named for Plains Indian tribes]

MSS Arapaho (SSK-01)
MSS Comanche (SSK-02)
MSS Lakota (SSK-03)
MSS Osage (SSK-04)

[Huojin]

The Mexican Revolution and the Birth of Toledanism

written by Joseph Rimbaud, published as part of "Obscure Ideologies and Their Origins" -
an anthology of ideological strands and branches separate from National Socialism, Shōwa Statism,
or Fascismo Italiano. Published 1960.

To understand the ideology of Sindicalismo Proletario (English: Proletarian Syndicalism), one must first examine the conditions it arose in, starting with the Revolution of the 1940s. After the Cardenas presidency, the centrist tendencies of the new Mexican president, combined with the strife of the Second World War and an active public presence by Leon Trotsky, culminated in a coup d'etat by the left-wing of the Party of the Mexican Revolution. This movement was endorsed by Leon Trotsky and his most prominent Mexican follower, Nahuel Moreno, the labor unions represented by Vicente Lombardo Toledano, and the Communist Party led by Hernán Laborde. A coalition government, comparable to a farther-left version of the Spanish Popular Front, was formed under the leadership of Lazaro Cardenas, once again returned to power.

Socialist reforms once implemented under Cardenas became the forefront of the new government's policy. Mexican ideology was a balancing act, left-wing but not Marxist. In-fighting, particularly between Trotskyists and pro-Stalin Communists, was frequent, and the assassination of Cardenas at the hands of a bodyguard resulted in even more turmoil. For a moment, the hopes of a further Revolution seemed slim, until the intervention of Leon Trotsky, at this point called "Father Trotsky" due to his role as an elder statesman, led to an alliance between Toledano's faction and the Morenists. A hardline, Trotskyist ideology was put into place, with exemptions and privileges given to the unions whose role had been crucial.

But the Leninist model proved unsatisfactory, the demands of Trotsky's Permanent Revolution leading to internal discontent. With the hopes of Marxism-Leninism broken, Trotskyists had believed that their ideals once again had a hope of becoming the leading Communist ideology. Many in Latin America sympathized with that goal, but the emphasis on exporting the Revolution to the industrialized nations, most of which had fallen under fascist dominion, turned many away from it in the end. As the discontent in Mexico grew, Toledano found a following. While agreeing to Marxist dialectical materialism and the need for a revolutionary party, Toledano felt the emphasis of the Revolution needed to be its support from the masses. Only with the backing of the unions and a true people's movement could a socialist state be sustained.

When the subject was brought up in the Central Committee of the PRM, it was found that much of the party agreed with the matter. An aging Trotsky having been reduced to the status of figurehead, the Trotskyist faction found itself outnumbered: Toledano's populist, syndicalist version of Marxism resonated with the masses. Perhaps cynically, the leaders of the military and the Revolutionary Council of Ministers, agreed. Presidente Moreno was forced to step down.

Toledano's faction was now firmly in place. Trotsky was forced into retirement, given the honorific of Chief of the Revolution. The PRM, now reborn as the Popular Revolutionary Party, was to be a party of the people, supported by the farmers, students, and workers: all represented through councils and unions. The ideology of the party was to be known as Sindicalismo Proletario, the ideals of syndicalism and its emphasis on unions combined with Marxist theory and populist rhetoric. Trotsky's Leninism was never truly abandoned, only modified. The PPR continues to act as the revolutionary leader, similar to a vanguard party, and the socialist revolution is spreading, just as Trotsky wished. It is only under a different name and different guiding principle that it stands as leader of the leftist world. Many parties now follow the principles of Proletarian Syndicalism, mostly in the oppressed nations of the Third World. But its influence has also spread to the developed world, such as the Mountain States, where the Socialist Party of the United States of America considers itself both devoted to that and to the Progressive Coalition, and the Commonwealth, where the Labour Party in its dominance has factions who subscribe to some of the ideas.

Delegates of the Fifth Congress of the Reformed Fourth International:

Mexico: Vincente Lombardo Toledano (Revolutionary Workers' Party, 11 delegates)
Cuba: Raul Castro (Workers' Party, 6 delegates), representing Fidel Castro
El Salvador: Roque Dalton (Revolutionary Party, 4 delegates), representing Cayetano Carpio
Honduras: Ramón Amaya Amador (Revolutionary Workers' Party, 2 delegates)
Guatemala: Víctor Manuel Gutiérrez (Guatemalan Revolutionary Workers Party, 3 delegates), representing Jacobo Arbenz
Costa Rica: Manuel Mora (Revolutionary Party, sole delegate)
Panama: Dr. Arnulfo Arias (National Revolutionary Party/May First Movement, 3 delegates)
Nicaragua: Carlos Fonseca (Sandinista National Liberation Front, 5 delegates)
Belize: Antonio Soberanis Gómez (Socialist Workers' Party, sole delegate)
Haiti: Anthony Lespès (Haitian Revolutionary Front, sole delegate)
Mountain States of America: Farrell Dobbs (Socialist Party, 3 delegates)
Paraguay: Ananías Maidana (Socialist Revolutionary Front, sole delegate)
Commonwealth/Britain: Nick Origlass (Workers' Party, 4 delegates)
Brazil: Luís Carlos Prestes (Communist Party of Brazil, 3 delegates)
Uruguay: Raúl Sendic (Socialist Party of Uruguay, 2 delegates)
Colombia: Manuel Marulanda Vélez (Revolutionary Workers' Party, 6 delegates)
Venezuela: Domingo Alberto Rangel (Revolutionary Left Movement, 4 delegates)
West Indies Federation: Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw (National Revolutionary Party of the West Indies, sole delegate)
Jamaica: Alexander Bustamante (People's National Party, 2 delegates)

Letters were sent from Comrade Che Guevara (Argentina), Comrades Modibo Keita and Francis Wodié (Ivory Coast).

NOTE: This extract does not include developments from 1960 onwards in the Toledanist ideology - specifically the reforms begun by President Arnoldo Martinez in Mexico beginning in the late 1970s that have engendered the development of market economy practices.